At this Tara let out such a breath of relief that Lord Pottinger’s eyebrows lifted. Heat burrowed into her chest, and she shook her head, not wanting to tell him that she had been a little afraid he had thought that their betrothal in front of Lord Bickens had only been a spectacle to prove to him that they were not afraid of his endeavors.
“You did not doubt my affection, I hope?”
“It is not that I doubted it, more that I was a little afraid that the reason for our betrothal was a response to Lord Bickens’ mockery.”
“And is that how you felt?”
A little concerned, Tara quickly grasped his arm, looking up at him.
“No, indeed not. I meant every single word that I said!”
“As did I.” He smiled back at her, and Tara let out slow breath, heat pooling in the depths of her stomach at the tenderness in his expression. “I know that I have not spoken to your father as yet, but I have every intention of doing so – this afternoon, in fact, once we have returned from our walk.”
A deep, contented breath escaped her.
“I have every certainty that he will accept your offer for my hand without question!”
Lord Pottinger chuckled.
“I am glad to hear it.” Smiling at her for another moment, he paused, bringing their steps to a stop. “I have something that I would like to return to you.”
“Return to me?” She looked at him, confused. “I do not recall you ever taking something from me.”
Lord Pottinger chuckled.
“That may be so, but this has been with me since the very first moment we met. You may not have been aware of it, but I can assure you that I am quite sure that this belongs to you.” Tara blinked, a little confused. How could he have something from the very first moment that they had met? “Perhaps I should have returned this to you sooner. But in the course of our endeavors, I found myself distracted, and quite forgot about it. Initially I thought I could use it to find the person responsible for what had taken place, but when you confessed all to me, there was no need for me to do so any longer.” To her utter astonishment, he pulled from his pocket the pendant she had long been looking for. She stopped walking, staring at him as he held it out to her. “As I have said, I am sorry that I did not return it to you before now. I should have done so.”
Tears blurred her vision as she reached out to take it, her hand trembling a little.
“I did not think that I would ever see this again. I thought I had lost it completely.” Swallowing her tears, she grasped the pendant carefully. “Do you realize that this is why I was in the East End in the first place, why I went back to that dreadful bawdy house? This was why you saw me there that afternoon.”
Lord Pottinger’s eyes flared for a moment and then he put one arm around her shoulders.
“I did not realize how much this meant to you. I can see from your expression that it must mean a great deal.”
Despite the fact that they were walking in the park, albeit with a chaperone behind them, Tara leaned into Lord Pottinger, her head going to his shoulder as she held the pendant tightly in her hand.
“Yes,” she whispered softly, not quite trusting her voice for fear that it would break at any moment. “This pendant means so much to me. It is the only thing that I was given to remember my mother by.”
“Goodness, then I feel even more terrible that I did not give it to you sooner.”
“You were not to know. I am sure that, to your eyes, it merely looked like a simple piece of jewelry.” She looked down at it in her hand, then turned her eyes back towards him. “However, did you come to find it? Was it after I had left the room?”
“No. If you recall, you spoke to me. I did not fully understand why you did so, but to my mind, it seemed as though you had wanted to say something more. You knew my title, even though I was sure I had not given it to you. You were warning me to take myself far from that place, only to be interrupted by a rap at the door. I still recall seeing the glint of fear in your eyes as you stumbled back toward it. That was the only glimpse I got of you, and in my desperation, I reached for you in the darkness, my fingers grasping whatever they could find to hold. It was then that your pendant must have fallen into my hand, although I did not notice it for some moments after you had left. I clung onto it, believing that I would be able to use it to my advantage, but of course, none of the people present in the bawdy house would either speak to me or look at the pendant. And then of course, I spotted you there that afternoon, and the need for it fell to the back of my mind. Now that I knew you had been present also in that place, my mind thought only of you.”
“I could not believe that I had lost it.” Tara’s heart clenched with the memory of the pain which had filled her when she realized it was gone. “I so very rarely took it from my neck, and it was not until my sister mentioned it that I realized its absence. It has been around my neck almost every day since my mother passed, and it grieved me dearly to know that not only had I lost it, but the chances of recovering it were very slim indeed. That was why I dared return there, why I forced myself to go back to that place – but of course, I was not to have success. Even if ithadbeen there, I doubt they would ever have told me.” Closing her eyes, she rested her head on his shoulder once more, a small, contented sigh escaping. “And now you have returned it to me. It is so wondrous that I do not think I can express to you the gratitude which is in my heart at present.”
“Then we find ourselves in much the same situation, Miss Shaw,” he answered softly. “I have not always been the best with words when it comes to expressing what I feel, but I want you to know that my heart has filled itself with such a great affection for you that I am certain it can be nothing less than love. It has been swift, and it has been wondrous but that is the truth that lingers there now.”
Tara’s head lifted immediately, her eyes widening as she stared up at Lord Pottinger, wondering if she had heard him correctly. Perhaps she had been mistaken and he had not said such a thing to her after all, but as she gazed up into his face and saw his blue eyes searching hers, she knew the truth.
“You love me?”
“Yes, Miss Shaw - Tara. You will think it a little quick, I am certain, but nothing has ever been slow about our connection! We have hurtled towards each other, despite our restraint. We cannot seem to escape one another, and I, for my part, am very glad of that. I have looked into my heart. I have studied it these last few days, and I have realized that my admiration, my respect, and my affection have joined together as one so that now, I can look down into your beautiful face, into your eyes that continue to captivate me, and truthfully tell you that I love you most dearly.”
Tara did not know how to respond. Her mind was screaming with joy, her heart lifting towards the skies. Before she knew what she was doing, before she even had a chance to consider that they were standing in the middle of Hyde Park and could be seen by all and sundry, she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.
Lord Pottinger did not seem to care, either, that they were in public, and acting in a most scandalous manner, for his lips met hers urgently, as though he was eager to confirm everything he had said with a single kiss. His hands went to her waist, and she sighed against him, her joy near completion. She had her mother’s pendant back, Lord Pottinger by her side and, in addition, her guilt was alleviated entirely, now that Lord Bickens was no longer at liberty to continue with his wicked scheme. Lord Pottinger’s arms encircled her waist and half lifted her off the ground, eliciting a squeal of delight from Tara.
